DUNCAN/Determined to worship
If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Psalm 108 as we continue our way through the fifth book of the Psalms together. This Psalm is a prayer of David to God in circumstances in which his own faith was being tested. Perhaps on a national occasion in which the whole community of believers needed to be reminded of the basis of their confidence, the certainty of their hope, and the security of their faith.
It begins with expressions of confident anticipation and determination to worship God in all circumstances. This is rooted in the psalmist’s trust in God’s promises. It ends with a recognition of God as the ultimate source of victory over David’s foes. Let’s walk through the psalm together and see something of its logic and its application to us today.
I. Determination to Worship God
The first thing I want you to see as we look at verses 1 to 3 is the psalmist’s expression of determination to worship God. Notice how he speaks. “My heart is steadfast, O Lord!” He says, “I’m going to worship God. I’m going to sing. I’m going to make melody with all my being.” Why? Because trouble is on the horizon. He is confidently anticipating coming through his trial and giving God thanks and praise.
Why is it that he’s determined to worship God? Look at verse 4—because of God’s love and faithfulness. Notice, he does not ground his worship of God in the way that God answers that specific petition, but he grounds it in the person of God. He says, “This is why I’m going to worship You, Lord. I’m going to worship You because of Your love and Your faithfulness.”
That’s very instructive to us. When we’re facing situations that cause us to doubt, and seeking to preach to our hearts and say, “Believe God, worship God,” we ground that worship and that faith in who God is, not in how the particular situation looks to us at the time.
But notice what else the psalmist says in verses 3 and 5. He is concerned in his action, prayers, and worship that God would be made much of amongst the nations. He is not satisfied with God being exalted in his life or in Israel alone, but in God’s deeds bringing Him glory in all the nations.
II. God’s Word of Promise
If you look at verse 6, we get the first hint at the specific petition that itself foreshadows the trouble ahead which led the psalmist to begin to assert that he was for certain going to give God praise and thanks and worship once God had brought him through this trial.
A military attack is about to happen, and David is up against a very formidable foe. The psalmist is confident that the Lord will hear and answer his prayer. He’s up against a fortified city, a well-armed enemy, situated in a very secure defensive position. In this situation, the outcome doesn’t look promising. But where does David find his confidence? Look at verse 7. “God has promised in His holiness: this is My land. This land belongs to Me. Every square inch of it belongs to Me and I’m going to give it to My people.” What is the basis of confidence? Not his circumstances, not his situation, not his immediate successes, not the weakness of his present opponent — the basis of confidence is the promise of God, the Word of God — God has said that He would give this land to His people.
When faith embraces and believes a promise of God in His Word, it gives you joy even before God fulfills the promise that He’s made to you because you know the certainty of God’s promise. That’s why David was able to say at the beginning of this psalm, “I’m going to thank You. I’m going to worship You. I’m going to wake up the morning tomorrow because I know You’re going to hear my prayer.” God’s promise is the basis of that confidence even in the face of the daunting challenge.
And you see that daunting challenge in verse 10. That daunting challenge is complicated by the perplexing situation that is recorded in verses 11 and 12. “There’s no human help that’s going to help us here, Lord. And Your providence doesn’t look like You’re going out with Your armies right now. So, if You don’t help us, we’re going to fail.” It’s a perplexing situation, not unlike the situations that many of you experience in life, situations which lead you to think things and maybe even say things out loud like, “I cannot see how God could be in this. I have no idea how God could be working this for my good. It feels like God has forgotten me. It feels like God has abandoned me. I can’t make sense out of what God is doing in my life here.” That’s the kind of perplexing situation that David is in. This is what he was preparing himself for, this is what he was preparing his people for, this is what God the Holy Spirit was preparing you for with the words that came in the first verses of this psalm because we all, in this fallen world, find ourselves in these kinds of perplexing situations.
III. We Will Do Valiantly, But God Will Tread Down Our Foes
And look at what David’s final words are in this psalm. We shall do valiantly, but He will win the victory. Do you know what rings in the back of my mind when I hear those two sides of Psalm 108 verse 13? Philippians chapter 2: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you.” Just as in sanctification we are called to be active and yet to rest on the fact that it is God at work in us, so also here we are called not simply to passively believe that God is sovereign, loving or faithful. Instead, we are called to act on the truth that God is loving and faithful and has made His promises to us. We are called to do valiantly, but to remember all along that it will not be our valiant deeds that win the day; it will be God and God alone who wins the day. We will do valiantly, but God will tread down our foes.
Can you say with the psalmist that you want God to be exalted in your own community? If that is going to happen, we will do valiantly, but it will have to be Him that gives the victory. David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote these words to equip us for the perplexing moments and the daunting tasks that will face us in the day ahead. By God’s grace, we’ll wake up in the morning and we’ll awaken the dawn, trusting in Him, ready for our own challenges.